Oven appliances generally include a cabinet with a cooking chamber positioned therein. The cooking chamber is configured for receipt of food articles for cooking. The oven appliance also includes a heating element for generating heat energy for cooking. The heating element can be, e.g., an electric resistance element or a gas burner.
Certain oven appliances also include features for forcing movement of heated air within the cooking chamber. Such oven appliances are generally referred to as convection ovens or ovens with a convection mode of cooking. For example, the oven may have a selection between convection and non-convection modes.
When cooking in a convection mode, for typical conventional ovens, heated air within the cooking chamber is circulated with a fan. The fan initiates a flow of heated air through a plurality of openings in a wall of the oven's cabinet. For example, in certain other convection ovens, the fan initiates a flow of heated air by pulling air from the cooking chamber through a plurality of openings in a back wall of the cooking chamber. The heated air then exits other openings in the side wall. The heated air exiting these openings moves through the cooking chamber to help distribute heat energy to food placed on racks in the oven.
However, such conventional systems can generate regions of high and low speed air flow in the cooking chamber such that the heated air is not uniformly distributed in the cooking chamber. As a result, foods placed in the oven may cook unevenly. For example, foods placed on different racks at different heights within the oven may cook at different rates. In addition, even foods placed at the same level may not receive uniform heating on e.g., the top and bottom due to non-uniform heat distribution cause by the varying regions of air speed in the oven.
Openings for the delivery of heated air from the fan can also be placed along the sides of the oven. However, ducts or channels must be provided to deliver the air from the fan to such openings. Typically, the volume for providing these ducts subtracts from the overall volume available in the cooking chamber. This is undesirable because certain consumers may prefer ovens having a larger cooking chamber. Additionally, the openings along the sides must be positioned in a manner that does not interfere with any features along the side walls that are used to help support one or more oven racks.
Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for improved convection cooking would be useful. In particular, an oven appliance with features for creating a more uniform flow of heated air within the cooking chamber during convection cooking would be beneficial. Such an oven that can also help maximize the space available for the cooking chamber while providing for a more uniform flow of heated air during cooking operations would also be very useful.